HGTV ‘House Hunters’ Runs Like ‘Law & Order’ — 1,700 Episodes Later

We may be in a celebrity-drenched age, with “media personality” being an increasingly lucrative job description. But HGTV — the channel everybody wants to emulate — turns on the cruise control with its most durable series House Hunters — and there’s hardly a star to be found. House Hunters, the unflashy crown jewel of the HGTV empire, has 1,700 plus episodes in the can for the network to show over and over. If content is king, then House Hunters, is the emperor of the HGTV world.

E! recently broke down the HGTV lineup, focusing on the stars of Property Brothers, Love It Or List It, Flip or Flop and Rehab Addict. Against type, House Hunters is a starless vehicle that just keeps going under its own power, the timeless concept providing the fuel. It’s like the procedural drama Law & Order, a show that also rules the rerun roost and which creator Dick Wolfe says is greater than its stars, who can be replaced with the machine hardly missing a beat. Every episode of House Hunters is 21 minutes and 32 seconds of programming genius.

We may be in a celebrity-drenched age, with “media personality” being an increasingly lucrative job description. But HGTV — the channel everybody wants to emulate — turns on the cruise control with its most durable series House Hunters — and there’s hardly a star to be found. House Hunters, the unflashy crown jewel of the HGTV empire,...